Welcome to the UW GDC Spring 2025 Game Jam! 

The University of Waterloo Game Development Club is happy to welcome you to a summer weekend full of prototyping, playtesting, and the joy of game development. This jam runs for 72 hours, from Thursday June 5th, 5pm, to Sunday June 8th, 5pm. You can join us online, or in person at QNC 1502 from 5pm to 7pm on Thursday and Friday, or QNC 2502 from 10am to 7pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Theme: Stay Fresh!

Frequently Asked Questions: 

• Will the events/theme reveal be streamed anywhere? Yes, on our Discord (barring any technical issues).
• Can I join a team? Yes! Any size team is allowed, but we recommend a max of 5, or else you probably won’t get much done.
• How do I find a team? If you’ll be in-person on Thursday, we’re hosting team-finding sessions. Otherwise, feel free to ask around in our Discord.
• Do I have to be from UW to participate? Nope! We just host the event! Anybody and everybody is welcome to participate, although you might miss out on all of our in person activities.
• Do I have to do all the work in 72 hours? Most of it, yeah. The use of light frameworks or some previously written code is allowed, as long as most of the game was made in the actual jam time.
• Do I need to follow the theme? If you have a really good idea that doesn’t follow the theme, go for it. It’s there to inspire you, not box you in.
• Can I have NSFW content in the game? It’s ok to submit, but if you do, let us know. We may decide not to show it during the showcase, and we want to make sure it’s properly flagged on the jam page.
• Can I use AI-generated art or code? Yes, as long as you let us know and it’s properly credited within your game page.
• Where will I submit my game? We have a form for submissions and an itch.io page set up. We highly recommend hosting it on itch.io, an excellent site for hosting indie games, so that we can feature it in the jam’s collection and it’s easier for people to find.
• Do I have to work the whole 72 hours? Absolutely not! In fact, we insist you take breaks! Go touch grass! Make sure to sleep!

If you have any more questions, please join us on the GDC Discord and we’d love to answer. Thanks for taking part in this, and we can’t wait to see what you make!